Call for proposal:

Funding scheme:

SSA - Specific Support Action

Objective

Issues : The 20 th century started with the conquest of the atmosphere by aeroplanes and terminated with the conquest of the earth and moon orbits. The 21st century could see the conquest of the air cargo transportation by airships in the new economic para digm of globalisation , provided that an airship trial is set up for proof of feasibility. Needs: Intensification of goods exchanges in globalisation requires that : - payloads be heavier , larger, indivisible, pre-mounted - delivery be any time, any we ather, any place, on any surface, door to door, infrastructure-free - the carrier be "mission versatile" and if active in airspace, able to move /hover , lift/download , be ecologic and autonomous. Scope of the work is to test a transport solution for cumb ersome loads and challenge airship technologies to satisfy it and the above needs. The objectives Open a sustained dialogue with needing industrialists and freighters to review their potential missions for both aerospace and other industry logistics withi n view to introduce to them promising cargo airship technologies, based on data of a real-scale transport trial, benchmark and mapping . Promote and convince the European-Russian airship community to converge their know-how into practical solutions for th e set missions Expectations are to use this trial as a springboard for airship R and D promote its industrialisation to interact with other logistics , insert its services into multi-modal transport chain , complementing aeronautic and surface services. E conomics: Beneficiaries would be the agents of the EU 5 000 daily heavy cumbersome load trips, and countless industrial sectors, at low environmental cost and low pricing Smes : A balanced blend of 2 innovation-driven Smes, large company, specialised universities should thrust airship technology into concrete development. Smes will be a key role in this.